U.S. stocks fall amid conflicting economic reports

View full sizeThe Associated PressTraders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange

Wall Street gnawed on a muddle of economic data and corporate earnings news Thursday, then sent stock indexes lower for a second day.

Disappointing
April sales results from big retailers set the bleak tone early on.
Costco, Macy's and Target, among others, reported sales that were weaker
than analysts had predicted. Colder weather and renewed concerns about
the economy weighed on shoppers.

GM shares fell 2.4 percent after the automaker said its first-quarter profit declined, mainly because of weakness in Europe.

Fears
of a global financial freeze-up caused by the European debt crisis have
receded, but many now worry that Europe's recession will hurt sales by
American exporters such as GM and Caterpillar. Caterpillar lost 1.9
percent.

European stocks closed mostly lower, giving up earlier
gains, after signs that European Central Bank will not inject more cash
into the region's fragile banking system.

Trading of U.S. stocks
was uneven because investors were "balancing between a weak close for
European stocks and trying to bet on what (the monthly jobs report) will
look like," said Peter Tchir, who runs the hedge fund TF Market
Advisors.

The labor market has been on traders' minds all week
because the government's monthly jobs report is due out Friday. The
final major indicator before that announcement was positive: The number
of people applying for unemployment benefits fell last week by the most
in three months.

The conflicting economic indicators offered
little direction for major U.S. stock indexes. They opened down, rose
slightly in the first 15 minutes of trading then turned lower. Eight of
the 10 industry groups in the Standard & Poor's 500 index fell. Two
rose, but barely.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 61.98
points, or 0.5 percent, to 13,206.59. The S&P 500 dropped 10.74, or
0.8 percent, to 1,391.57. The Nasdaq composite average slid 35.55, or
1.2 percent, to 3,024.30

The Carlyle Group, a big,
politically-connected private equity firm, edged higher after an initial
public offering that raised $671 million. The company had priced its
stock below the expected range late Wednesday. Carlyle, trading on the
Nasdaq under the ticker "CG," has about $147 billion in assets under
management.

Green Mountain Coffee
Roasters Inc. plunged 47.8 percent. The maker of single-cup coffee
machines and cartridges said late Wednesday that its earnings for the
fiscal year ending in September will be far below its previous forecast
and analysts' estimates. Green Mountain shares have lost more than
three-fourths of their value since September.